Printing-telegraph



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E. VAN HOEVENBERGH.

Printing Telegraph.. No. 241,094. Patented May 3,1881.

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. H. VAN HOEVBNBERGH.

Printing Telegraph.

No. 241,094. Patented May 3,1881.

N. PETERS, Photo-Lithogmphsr. Wuhlngton, D. C.

HENRY VAN HOEVENBERGH, OF ELIZABETH, NET JERSEY.

PRINTING-TELEGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 241,094, dated May 3, 1881.

Application illcd October 25, 1880.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known Ithat I, HENRY VAN Honvnn- BERGH, a citizen ot' theUnited States, residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Telegraphs; and I do hereby declare. the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates especially to that class of pri ntin g-telegraphs which are designed to be operated automatically by means of electric pulsations proceeding from a suitable transmitter situated at a pointmore orless distant.

rlhe general object ofthe invention is to increase the rapidity and certainty of operation of such an apparatus, and to provide improved means ofmaintaining the synchronism between the transmitting-cylinder at the sending-station and the type-wheel at the receiving station or stations, by causing the same to be regulated or adjusted automaticallyY once during each revolution, instead of at regular intervals and at the will ot' the transmitting-operator, as in the apparatus heretofore in general use.

To this end my invention consists, iirst, in making use of an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the movement ot' the type-wheel, together with an independent electro-magnet in the same circuit for controlling the impression device, in combination with a shunt or branch circuit around the impression-magnet only, which is momentarily closed at a given point once in each and every revolution of the type-wheel by a device moving synchronously with the type-wheel, whereby the unison device may be operated by means of an increased current without affecting the printing mechanism; second, in the combination of a typewheel, a step-by-stcp escapement actuated by an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the same, and a unison-stop, which automaticallylocks the type-wheel at the zero-point and releases it by the action of the said electromagnet when traversed by a current of iucreased strength, wherebythe said unison-stop Inay be operated from the type-wheel magnet; third, in the combination of an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the movements of a type-wheel with a yielding stop, which limits the arc et vibration of the armature of said (No model.)

electro-magnet so long as the said armature is under the intluence of a normal current, and a unison-stop upon the type-wheel, which is coutrolled through the said yielding stop by increasing the normal strength of current traversing the type-wheel magnets; fourth, in the combination of an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the movements of a type-wheel, a yielding stop which limits the arc of vibration ofthe armature of said electro magnet or magnets when under theintluence ot' a current of normal strength, with a unison detent or stop normally resting in the path ofthe typewheel and adapted to arrest the same at the zeropoint, and a connection from said yielding stop to the unison-detent which withdraws the same and releases the type-wheel whenever the normal strength of current through the type-wheel magnet is increased; tfth, in the combination of a rotating type-wheel, a unison-stop arranged to arrest the rotation of said type-wheel at the zero-point, and an electromagnet which withdraws said stop and releases thetype-wheel when the normal strength ofthe current traversing its coils is increased, with a circuit-closer revolving synchronously with said type-wl1eel,a1id a unison-step acting to momentarily increase the strength of current in said electro-magnet simultaneously with the arrest of the type-wheel by the unison-stop, whereby the cutting out ot' the resistance of the printing-magnet assists in strengthening the current for operating the unisoirmechanism; sixth, in the combination of a type-wheel, an electro magnet or magnets, an armature, a yielding stop for limiting the arc ot' vibration of said armature, and a rock-shaft upon which the said yielding shaft and unison-detent are mounted.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a printin g-telegraph instrument embodying my improvements. Fig. 2is a vertical transverse section of the same. FiO. 3 is a detached view, in elevation, of a portion of the mechanism. Fig. 4 is a skeleton view,

illustrating the electrical connections ofthe apparatus; and Fig. 5 is a detached view, in perspective, of certain details of the mechanism.

The complete apparatus may be said to c011- sist of three sets of mechanism, the rst of IOO which produces and controls the intermittent rotation ot' the type-wheel, the second produces thc impression of the proper letter upon the paper and moves the paper forward to the type-wheel, as required, and the third controls the synchronism of the type-wheel with the transmitting apparatus at the distant station, and restores the same toits proper position or relation when it is thrown out ot' correspondence by accident or otherwise.

The first part ot' the apparatus consists ot' a type-wheel, A, having any required letters, figures, or other characters engraved upon its periphery. The type-wheel is mounted upon an arbor, c, to which is also fixed a scapewheel, B. The typewheel and scapewvheel tend to rotate continuously in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l, impelled by a train ot' wheel-work, C G, which receives its motion from the barrel c and cord c', to which a weight is attached, and which maybe wound up as required by applying a key to the post c". The type-wheel is held in check by an anchor-escapement, D, whose pallets engage alternately with opposite. teeth of the scape-wheel B. The escapement D is fixed to a rockshaft, d, from which projects an arm, e, carrying' an armature, E.

The hereinbeforedescribed mechanism is old and well-known, and byitself forms no part ot' my invention; but I make use ot' a novel construction and arrangement of electro-niagnets for producing the vibration of the armature E, by which the step-bystep advance ot' the type wheel A is produced through the agency of the escapement B.

Two electromagnets, F and F', are arranged with their poles facing toward each other upon opposite sides ofthe armature E, as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. The yoke or back arlnature ot' each of these electro-magnets, instead of being made of soft iron in the usual manner, consists of a permanent steel magnet of horseshoe shape, into the opposite poles, n and s, of which the respective cores of the electro-magnets are firmly screwed or otherwise secured. The permanentmagnetinduces corresponding polarity in the soft-iron cores attached to its poles, and thus they are rendered in effect permanently magnetic, but of opposite polarity. I prefer to arrange the electro-magnets F and F with their similar poles facing each other, the north pole ot' F facing the north pole of F, and the south poles in like manner, in which case the armature E, being a neutral piece of soft iron, will be attracted inditferently by either pair of cores when no current is passing. The helices or coils are so arranged that the direction of the current through them in reference to the normal magnetism of the cores will produce an opposite effect in the two electro-magnets. Thus, for example, a positive current will generate an electro-magnetism which will re-enforce and strengthen the normal magnetism of the e1ectro-magnet F, and partially or wholly neutralize that of the eleetro-magnet F. The

armature E will therefore be stron gl y attracted by F, and slightly or not at all by F. A nega tive current, on the contrary, will strengthen the normal magnetism of F and neutralize that of F, causing the armature E to be attracted in the opposite direction. Thus, by transmitting alternate pulsations ot' positive and negative electricity through both electromagnets (these being included in the same circuit) the armature E may be made to vibrare to and fro with great rapidity.

An importantad vantage ot' the arrangement which I have described consists in the usc oil' a non-polarized armature in lieu of the polarized armature heretofore used, whereby I am enabled to make this 'armature exceedingly small and light. This could not well be done in the case ot' a polarized armature, in colisequence ot' the danger of dem agnctiza tion when the mass of metal is small, which, in practice, is found to be a very serious evil. This objection is entirely overcome by the arrangement which I have described.

The printing mechanism consists of a lever, H, fixed upon an arbor or shaft, h, which carries a cylindrical pad or platen, I, and a paperfeeding mechanism, J, of the usual construe tion, by means ot'which apaperribbon or tape, j, is drawn forward to receive the impression ofthe successive characters as required.

K is an electro-magnet, which actuates the printing-lever by direct action upon its arma ture k, which is attached to the axis h of the printing-lever H by means of an adjustable device, which is shown in dotted lines ill Fig. l, but will be best understood by reference to the detail perspective view, Fig. 5. The armature k is mounted upon an arm, k. This arm is loose upon the shaft 71., and has adownward projection or arm, It. Parallel to this latter is another arm, h', which is rigidly attached to the axis h.. The arms h and k" may be ad justed toward or from each other by means ot' the screwst and t. The screw 't' passes loosely through the arm k, and is tapped into thearm h, while the screwi is tapped through the arm k and merely bears against the arm h. By this means the force with which the platen I is pressed against the type-wheel A by the action of the electro-magnet K upon its armature may be adjusted with great accuracy simply by loosening the screw t' and tightening the screw i', or vice versa, as required. The printing-magnet K is included in the same circuit with the magnets F and F', which control the movement of the type-wheel, and is actuated when required simply by increasing the strength of the current, (irrespective of its polarity,) by which the final movement of the type-wheel is effected in order to bring the proper character opposite the platen for printing, the ordinary pulsations, which are of sufcient strength to operate the type-wheel armature, bein g altogether insutiicient to actuate the printing devices.

The unison mechanism consists ot' a detent,

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L, afiixed to one end of a rock-shaft, l, and which, by means of au adjustable spring, L', is normally held in a position directly in the path ofthe pin or stop M, which is inserted in the type-wheel A and revolves with it. When the pin M in its revolution comes in contact with the end ofthe detent L the type-wheel is arrested at thc zero or starting point, and there held,notwithstanding the action ot' the escapement and wheel-work, until the detent is withdrawn. If the type-wheel is moving in unison with the transmitting-cylinder a pulsation ot' considerably more than the normal strength of current, which is sent through the line by the transmitter at the moment ot' passing the zero point, withdraws the detent or stop L, as hereinafter shown` and allows the pin M to pass by; consequently the progressive movement ot the type-wheel is not arrested. But in case the type-wheel is thrown out of correspondence with the transl'nitter by reason ot' any disarrangement of the conductors or the mechanism or other cause, so as to fall one or more steps behind the transmitter, the pin M will not reach the stop in time to pass by it at the moment ot'its withdrawal,andthe typewheel will therefore be arrested and held by the detent L until the latter is withdrawn by the action ot` the transmitter in the next succeeding revolution, when the type-wheel will necessarily start in unison with the transmitter. Thus the position ot' the type-wheel is automatically corrected, it' found wrong, upon reaching the Zero-point in each revolution.

The withdrawal ot' the detent Lfrom the path 'ofthe pin M is effected by a device which will now be described.

The motion in each direction of the armature E, which carries with it the esca-pement, is limited by the peinlulum-arm N, (see Figs. 2, .5, and 4,) which is tixed upon the sameaxis d, and vibrates between two adjustable stops, O and P. The stop O is securedpermanently to the frame ot' the instrument, but the stop l is mounted upon a lshort armd), secured to the rock-shaft l, which carries the detent- L. The tension ot' the spring L', Fig. l, is sutlicient to holdthe stop P in the position shown in the drawings, except when a pulsation ot' increased strength is sent, when the tension ot' the spring is overcome and the stop P yields slightly, falling back against the stationary block 1)', and at the same time withdrawing the detent L from the path ot the pin M on the type-wheel.

As the printing mechanism, as well as the mechanism for correcting the type-wheel, are both set in action by a pulsation ot` increased strength, it is necessary to make provision for preventing the impression device from operating whenever a pulsation is sent for the purpose ot' withdrawing the unison-stop. This I effect by means of a rotating contact-point, o, upon the type-wheel, which touches an insulated spring, s, during each revolution at the instant the pin M is passing the stop L. This closes a shun t-circuitaround the printing-magnet K and momentarily cuts it out of circuit while the unison device isbeing operated, and thus prevents the printing mechanism from operating. Another importantfunction ot` this circuit-closer and shunt is that it reduces the resista-nce ot' the main circuit by the amount of the resistance ot` the printing-magnet K, and to that extent increases the strength otl the current in the line at the moment the unison mechanism is to be operated. This in many cases is sufficient to et'fect the release ofthe unison-stop withoutthe employmentot` additional cells ot battery at the transmitting-station 'for this purpose.

The general arrangement otl circuits and mechanism, which has been hercinbefore described and explained,is clearly shown in Fig. i

4, in which T and T are the binding-screws for the attaclnnent oi' the line-wires. The normal circuit through the instrument is from T by wire 1 to electro-magnet F, thence by wire 2 to electro-magnet F', thence by wires 3 4 5 to printi11g-magnet K, thence by wire 6 to the other binding-screw, T. The shunt-circuit, which cuts out the printing-magnet-K, starts from the point4, between the type-wheel magnets F F' and the prin ting-magnet K, and goes through the frame ot' the instrument to the hub o1" the type-wheel A, and thence through contact-point r, spring s, (when the latter is in contact,) and wire S to the binding-post T', where itrejoins the main wire. Thus it will be understood that the three principal working parts ot' the apparatus are operated by three different strengths ot current. The normal strength ot' current, which is also the weakest, is sufficient to actuate the escapementcontrolling the type-wheel by reversals of polarity, but not sut'ticient to eft'ect the printing or to withdraw the unison-stop. A certain additional strength is sufticient to eft'ect the printing also, but not to withdraw the unison-stop, which can only be done by the aid ot' a still stronger current, and this last is prevented from operating the printing-magnet by the sh unting device hereinbefore described. The action ofthe printing and unison devices is of course wholly independent ot' the polarity ot the current.

I am aware that printing-telegraphs have been constructed in which a shunt passing` round the printing-magnet has been closed at a determinate point in the revolution ot` the type-wheel, provided that it haspreviously been completed at another point, but not otherwise, the last-named operation being under control of the transmitting-operator, and not automatic, and the shunt remaining continuously closed until broken by the act ofthe operator. My invention differs from this in that the shunt-circuit is momentarily and automatieally closed ata determinate point once in each and every revolution of the type-wheel.

I am also aware that printing-telegraphs have been constructed with automatically-lock- IOC:

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ing unison-stops, which have been released either bythe action of the printing-magnet or ofan independent special magnet, and, in some cases, by the aid ot' a current of increased strength. 1n my invention the type-wheel is automatically locked at zero, and is released by the action ot' the type-wheel magnet when traversed by a current of increased strength.

I am furthermore aware that l'irinting-telegraphs have been constructed having an automatic unison-stop and a type-wheel escapement provided with two pallets, one of which may be moved independently of the other, and with an independent electro-magnet for moving the last-named pallet and releasing the type-wheel at the zero-point.

I do not claim herein the combination of a non-polarized armature common to two electromagnets, each of which has its cores polarized oppositely to each other by a permanent magnet, and both being arranged with poles respectively facing each other upon opposite sides of the armature, and with coils or helices united in the same circuit in such a manner that a positive current traversing them tends` to neutralize the permanent magnetism ofthe electro-magnet on one side of the armature and to increase that of the electro-magnet on the opposite side thereof, while a negative-cu rrent will tend to produce a converse of said action. scribed method of operating a printing-telegraph instrument by currents ofthree different strengths, as these features of my invention will constitute a portion ofthe subject-matter of another application to be hereafter made by me.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the movements of a rotating type-wheel, an independent electro-magnet in the same circuit for controlling the printing mechanism, and a shunt or branch circuit around the printing-magnet only,which is momentarily closed at a determinate point once in each and every revolution of the typewheel by a device movingsynchronously with the type-wheel.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, ot' a rotating type-wheel, a step-by-step escapement, an electro-magnet for actuating and controlling the same, a unisonstop which automatically locks the type-wheel atthe zero-point against the action of the escapement and releases it by the action of the Neither do I claim the hereinbefore-del said electro-magnet when the normal strength of current traversing the said magnet is augmented.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an electro magnet or magnets for controlling the movements of a rotating type-wheel, a yielding stop which limits the arc of vibration of the armature of said electro-magnet while the latter is under the influence of a normal current, and a unisonstop upon the type-wheel which is controlled through the yielding stop by increasing the normal strength of magnetism in the typewheel magnets.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of an electro magnet or inagnets for controlling the movements of a rotating type-wheel, ayielding stop which limits the arc of vibration of the armature of said electro magnet or magnets when under theintiuence of a current of normal strength, a unison detent or stop normally resting in the path of the type-wheel and adapted to arrest the same at the zero-point in each revolution, and a connection from the said yielding stop to the unison-detent which withdraws the same and releases the type-wheel whenever the normal strength of current through the type-wheel magnet is increased.

The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a rotating type-wheel. a unison detent or stop adapted to arrest the rotation of said type-wheel at the zero-point in each revolution, an electro-magnet which withdraws said stop and releases the typewheel when the normal strength of the current traversing its coils is increased, anda circuitcloser revolving synchronously with said typewheel and acting to momentarily increase the strength of current in said electro-magnet simultaneously with the arrest of the type-wheel by the unison-stop.

(i. The combina-tion, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a rotating type-wheel, an electro magnet or magnets, an armature, a yielding' stop for limiting the arc of vibration of said armature, and a rock-sh aft carrying the said yielding stop, and also a unison-tieten t, for locking the type-wheel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my narne this 21st day of October, A. D. 1880.

'HENRY VAN HOEVENBERGH.

Witnesses:

FRANK L. POPE, Unas. A. TERRY.

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